Not so long ago, health care delivery took place in one of two general locations: either the doctor’s office or the hospital. The doctor’s office was primarily for checkups for healthy patients or check-ins for patients who were sick — and were promptly sent to the hospital for diagnostic testing, inpatient care, or medical procedures. The hospital was the catch-all medical facility for emergency care, testing, bloodwork, minor and major surgeries, post-op rehab — just about everything else that didn’t happen at the doctor’s office.

This model has been evolving over the past several decades, and today many of the tests and procedures traditionally provided at the hospital are now provided in an outpatient location and many of the traditional “check-in visits” can now be monitored or checked remotely from the patient’s home. OSF HealthCare is leading this transformation with its recent expansions.

In September 2018, OSF opened the primary care practice and OSF PromptCare on Bradford Lane in Normal; the new modern urgent care clinic, OSF Urgo, opened on Greenbriar Drive in Normal in December of 2018, and now, the new OSF Center for Health, located at 210 St. Joseph Drive on the campus of OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, houses an OSF PromptCare, OSF Occupational Health, OSF Medical Group – Family Medicine and the OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute.

“The growth and expansion of OSF HealthCare in the Bloomington-Normal community has been intentionally focused on improving care and the delivery of care to each patient served,” said Lynn Fulton, president of OSF St. Joseph. “Providing primary care, urgent care and cardiovascular services in an easy-to-access location outside the walls of the hospital, eases the way for our patients to use our services and then go back to their daily lives.”

Introducing the newest facility in the OSF family
The OSF Center for Health is a $25.3 million, three-story building, boasting a total of 53,000 square feet to serve patients. The main level offers an OSF PromptCare and OSF Occupational Health services. The OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute encompasses the second floor, which includes Phase 1 and 2 cardiac rehabilitation and advanced cardiac diagnostic testing. The third floor is where OSF Medical Group – Family Medicine is located, with state-of-the art exam rooms, space for procedures and a laboratory for diagnostic testing.

“We are excited about co-locating primary care, OSF PromptCare and OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute,” Fulton said. "The primary care team is able to work collaboratively with their peers in cardiology and urgent care. Patients will benefit from this collaboration through improved care and access. This new building provides OSF with the ability to recruit and retain physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and other health care professionals."

Providing services as conveniently as possible includes having diagnostic testing and less-invasive procedures provided in the outpatient space instead of the hospital.

“The new OSF Center for Health is a tremendous addition to our community, bringing together needed outpatient services in a convenient location.” Fulton said.

OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute
Dr. Bill Novak, a cardiologist with OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute, is excited to be in the new building.

“Prior to our move to the new building, we had five cardiologists, two cardiovascular surgeons, two nurse practitioners, one physician assistant and our nursing and medical office assistant staff working out of separate offices. We had outgrown all the space we were in and still didn’t have enough rooms to see patients efficiently.” In fact, prior to moving, there was a waiting list for non-emergent consultations because there simply wasn’t room to add another provider and staff to see more patients.

The entire second floor of the OSF Center for Health is devoted to the cardiovascular services. It offers 20 exam rooms and six rooms for non-invasive testing such as EKGs, echocardiograms, stress tests and vascular ultrasound testing. The brand new facility offers the patient a better experience because it has been designed to maximize workflow so a patient’s time is used efficiently and effectively. It will become, as Dr. Novak puts it, “a cardiovascular destination.”

The convenience for patients starts in the parking lot — they simply park and go to the second floor to see their cardiologist. If they need cardiac diagnostic tests, they go to the same place — and some testing can even be done on the same day as their visit with the physician. Being co-located with primary care is also a benefit to the doctors; they will be able to have more personal interaction and discuss patient care face-to-face. Overall, “it will be a better experience for patients,” Dr. Novak said.

The new OSF Center for Health on the OSF St. Joseph campus offers a better environment of care for patients who need the services housed there. Making health care better, easier and more efficient — truly patient-centered — is the motivation for the OSF team. It also extends the Mission of OSF HealthCare: to serve persons with the greatest care and love.

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